Ireland – sometimes referred to as The Republic of Ireland although that is not its official name – is located in northwest Europe. Technically it is an island, with the larger island of Great Britain to its east, separated by the Irish Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean stretching out for over 5,700 km to its west towards North America. The republic is an independent state that consists of 26 counties and covers approximately five-sixths of the island’s area. Its Irish name is Eire. It shares an open border with Northern Ireland, which consists of six counties and is a constituent part of the United Kingdom. It is this land border which is one of the key stumbling blocks to the negotiations between the UK and European Union over ‘Brexit’.